Fire on the Mountain by Jean McNeil @Legend_Press @jeanmcneilwrite #BlogTour

Fire on the Mountain by Jean McNeil @Legend_Press @jeanmcneilwrite #BlogTour

Firstly I wish to thank Imogen Harris of Legend Press for inviting me to take part on this Blog Tour for FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN by Jean McNeil

BOOK DESCRIPTION

When NGO worker Nick drops unexpectedly into the lives of Pieter and Sara Lisson, he feels he has found the parents he never had. Nick is enraptured by their lives of splendour and acclaim as much as the stirring setting of the African city where they live, but he soon senses a secret at the heart of his new family.

Nick then meets Riaan, the Lissons’ son, and so begins an intense connection that threatens to erupt into a relationship neither had ever considered. In the shadow of the Brandberg, the glowing mountain that stands at the heart of the desert, Nick will discover that his passion for Riaan is not the only fire which threatens his newfound home.

This isn’t a fast paced book and not one to be rushed. I must admit to have been very intrigued by the main character Nick throughout the book, though I didn’t particularly like him at first. He made me feel uneasy. He was like a chameleon that seemed to make himself into what he thought people would like rather be who he was. Nick had been an aid worker that travelled the world to disaster areas but he dropped off the radar. He literally jumped ship and headed to find people he had never met before.

When Nick first arrived at Pieter and Sara’s home in Africa, it was unannounced, he had been just friend of one of Sara’s nieces, but he was welcomed into their home by them. He developed a closeness with Pieter, a successful and controversial writer and soon took on the role a surrogate son. When Riaan, one of Pieter and Sara’s sons, arrives home Nick and him strike up a friendship. Riaan lives in the bush and when he goes back Nick goes along with him.

It is here that the story came to life for me. The descriptions of the African landscape, from the vibrant colours of the rivers to the skies, to the traditions, fears and customs they all just seeped off the pages and into my mind. Everything heightened my senses as it was just so intense. Surrounded by a timeless and ageless African landscape the story turns into one of self discovery for both the men as their lives take an unexpected turn.

The more I read about Africa the more I fall in love with the savage beauty of it all, even the hypnotic snakes that refuse to make way for man and their technology. This is a passionate story in so many ways and so beautifully written on every page.

HERE IS A LITTLE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jean McNeil is a prolific fiction and non- fiction author whose work has been nominated for and won several major international awards. She is Reader in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. Her first novel with Legend Press, and 12th overall publication was The Dhow House (2016).